‘Bering Sea Gold’ star Emily Riedel, a former opera singer, reflects on building an unlikely empire in Nome

It was over a decade ago when Emily Riedel came to Nome, Alaska during the summer in hopes of getting enough gold to fund her opera studies.

Her childhood friend, Zeke Tenhoff, suggested she could make big bucks from gold dredging in the Bering Sea. It did not take long for Riedel to shift direction and purchase her own vessel. She built herself up to become one of the most successful gold dredge captains in Nome, Alaska with The Eroica. She's the fleet’s only female captain.

The opera singer-turned-dredger’s adventures are being chronicled in the new season of Discovery Channel’s "Bering Sea Gold."

"It’s crazy to think about," the captain chuckled to FOX Business. "I wanted to fund a master’s degree in opera abroad. A friend of mine invited me up [here] to give it a shot, and I was like, ‘Why not?’ Why not goldmine?’ I can’t even imagine what was going on in my 21-year-old brain back in the day… It was only going to be a summer job. But I think what kept me at it was this sense [that] this is hard, this is difficult to accomplish. And the fact that it was so difficult to do and that I saw so many people failing at it, it just sort of ignited this fire in me to succeed, to make it work. And that fire has burned [in] me through 12 years of trying to be a gold miner and just succeeding."

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Riedel was no stranger to getting her hands dirty. Growing up as a third-generation Alaskan, she was already familiar with the scene – thrill-seeking locals eagerly digging for gold during brutal Arctic winters when temperatures sink deep below zero with winds bringing them to 20 to 30 below.

"Nome is a very interesting part of the world," Riedel reflected. "It has this amazing history, this very rich tradition. It was founded by gold miners and it was the scene of like two separate gold rushes. It has this vast, amazing history. It also has a cultural history. A lot of the native population lives in Nome. It is inaccessible by road. You have to go there by plane or by boat. So it makes it kind of a remote, frozen, little part of the world that happens to contain a vast amount of treasure… It’s hard to live in. It’s very expensive. It’s sort of held together by poorly constructed buildings because it’s too expensive to do much else there. It’s a unique place and you kind of have to be there to experience just how crazy of a place it is."

Riedel admitted that for the first couple of years, she was not welcomed by the male-dominated crew. However, many others who witnessed Riedel "breaking my back to make my boat profitable" came to respect her.

"If you’re going to be any kind of minority in a majority profession like that, you just have to show that you’re committed," she said. "And then the people who matter will give you the respect that you have earned."

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"The people who don’t matter will continue to exist," she shrugged. "There’s nothing you can do about it."

As Riedel thinks about her future, she wonders how her unexpected career path will impact her personal life.

"I’m married now, and I’m trying to start a family," she said. "That changes the way you have to structure your life. You can’t just give yourself 100 percent to the job anymore. There are a lot of other factors at hand and more people need you. And I think the industry is changing. The offshore gold mining scene used to be a literal bonanza for anyone who wanted to come and seek gold. But gold is becoming a little bit more scarce. The great concentrations are harder to come across. And you have to adapt to the changing demands of the industry. You have to go bigger. You have to change the way your operation works to make it more efficient, more streamlined. You have to constantly adapt to stay fresh and to stay competitive in this business."

Some watching the series may be tempted to take a chance, like Riedel, and embrace the great outdoors in hopes of striking it rich. In addition to the real-life threats of hypothermia and frostbite, the results can also be disappointing.

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"I think the notion of striking it rich is a matter of opinion," she explained. "What does it mean to strike it rich? Could you go up to Nome as a new person and make 20 grand in a single day? Yes, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. I think that’s unlikely… If you want to be a gold miner and come to Nome, I welcome you to the job, but be prepared for several years of hard labor and hard knocks."

"If you’re thinking about doing this, I would ask you several questions," Riedel continued. "What are you prepared to sacrifice? What are you prepared to invest in? Do you have years? Do you have a stable enough family situation where you can bring your family with you? Do you have a family? What are your habits? What do you think can hold you back? Are you willing to fully invest your entire personhood into an endeavor that could take several years to become successful? If the answer is yes, then we’d have more of a discussion. But I think you have to get a lot of that out of the way first. Gold mining takes all of your heart, mind and spirit. You have to be prepared to move to Nome, to have enough to set up and buy equipment."

"It’s a big investment, but it is very possible for the right person," she added.

"Bering Sea Gold" airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Discovery Channel.